Now that I think about it, I believe that if Welker doesn't get injured in week 17, then you see a trade involving Julian Edelman at the conclusion of the season (I think a 3rd rounder would have been a reasonable expectation from some team hoping to emulate our style). There's really no need for 2 slot WR's in this offense and their skillset is so similar. Maybe you even see it this season, but we are probably going to need him for insurance.

Whose to say he's a slot receiver? He was no receiver starting the season, he's a very smart athletic guy who picked up a position like nothing where experienced vets have failed. Guys like that usually just get better.

Troy Brown was just a special teams player, then just a third down receiver. When we needed a starter, he stepped in and caught 100 balls.

Of course Edelman would be a Patriot. Who said that Edelman is going to be purely a slot receiver for the rest of his career. He is bigger and faster than Welker. The slot position just has the easier routes and allowed Edelman to contribute more immediately. I could see Edelman becoming more of a receiver like Deion Branch.

I was arguing that if all the Patriots saw in Edelman was a Welker backup, it wouldn't have made much sense to draft him.

I didn't even get into the fact that Edelman might be the most heavily scouted 7th-round draft pick of all time (according to Doug Martin, they had at least four different position coaches meet with him, and apparently they flew him in for a visit under the radar).

I can confirm that a Pats fan did post this and it wasn't CT. Let's just say that challenging this poster's opinion to his face would be essentially impossible due to his "strong" personality, so I approve of laughing at him here

i can confirm that a pats fan did post this and it wasn't ct. Let's just say that challenging this poster's opinion to his face would be essentially impossible due to his "strong" personality, so i approve of laughing at him here